


going under

by keithslance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Boys In Love, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Rough Kissing, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 07:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11249241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithslance/pseuds/keithslance
Summary: “I just can’t lose you,” Lance murmurs, turning just slightly so his nose bumps Keith’s.Softly, Keith smiles. “You won’t.”





	going under

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a small drabble ficlet for the Voltron Positivity Exchange on Tumblr, but it kind of took on a life of its own and got longer than expected. Take it, please. 
> 
> For [life-death-thepursuitofhappiness](https://life-death-thepursuitofhappiness.tumblr.com/). I hope you enjoy it ♡
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: [marmoraskeith](https://marmoraskeith.tumblr.com/)

“You could have died out there.”

Keith closes his eyes and lets out a soft sigh, turning his nose into the line of Lance’s throat. He’s too ashamed to raise his head and look Lance in the eye right now, so he settles for burrowing into the place between Lance’s neck and shoulder that somehow always smells like mint.

“Keith...”

“I get it, okay?” his voice is muffled against Lance’s collarbone, his lips mashing into the heated skin covering the wings of bone. He tightens his grip around Lance’s waist, arms aching. “I was stupid. Don’t need to hear a lecture from you too.”

“Hey.” A warm palm settles on Keith’s forehead and pushes his hair back, lifting his head up until he sees twin pools of indigo staring into his soul. “It’s not a lecture. It’s me being worried. If our positions had been switched, wouldn’t you be worried about me too?”

Keith’s brow furrows. He knows he looks like a baby about to throw a fit. His face always gets scrunched when he’s about to cry, lip trembling and everything, and he hates it. Sniffing once, Keith ducks his head again, unable to hold Lance’s gaze. They’re both quiet, nothing filling Keith’s room except the sounds of them breathing in the dark, two sets of lungs crushed together, the only thing separating them being skin and bone.

“Yes,” he finally admits, voice hoarse in his throat. He knows Lance is right. And he knows that Lance is serious, because he isn’t cracking jokes or flipping out. Lance is quiet, his fingers petting softly at the hair at the nape of Keith’s neck. It’s near ticklish, more reassuring than anything, and he doesn’t want Lance to stop.

“You’re too selfless.”

Keith blinks, startled by Lance’s comment to the point of looking up to see the expression on his face. Lance isn’t looking at him, not directly. He’s staring at Keith’s chest where it’s pressed against his own, like he’s trying to see past Keith’s skin to where his heart is beating, as if he needs to reassure himself that Keith’s really alive. Then Keith’s world is spinning, and he can barely let out a noise of alarm before he’s slammed on his back on the mattress of his bed, his entire body bouncing from the force of it right before Lance’s hands are digging into his shoulders, pressing him down.

“Lance–” Keith says, trying to keep the shock out of his voice, but clearly it isn’t working if Lance’s fingers tightening into his skin is any indication. Lance is hovering over him now, his body blanketing Keith’s in heat and a somehow comforting weight, his head bowed so Keith can’t see his eyes. Keith closes his mouth and waits.

“You’re too selfless,” Lance starts again, his words shaky. “And you’re so ready to rush into battle head-first, but what about _me_ , Keith?” Lance raises his head and Keith can see the shine of unshed tears in his eyes. Sucking in a sharp breath, Keith tries to cup Lance’s cheek but Lance just shoves down on his arms harder, pinning him to the bed. “What about us? What’s gonna happen when you just don’t think before running headfirst into the most dangerous part of the battle?”

“I can handle myself–” Keith snaps, but he’s shaken so roughly that he can’t finish his sentence.

“This is what I’m talking about!” Lance cries, and Keith can see it now, the fear in Lance’s eyes, how truly scared he was for Keith. “You think you’re invincible, but you’re not! None of us are, and if you keep acting like this, you’re going to get yourself _killed_ , and I can’t–I can’t–” Lance hiccups and keels forward into Keith’s neck. He can feel Lance’s tears against his skin, scorching hot guilty reminders of his actions and the pain he’s caused because of his carelessness.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, turning his face into Lance’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Lance. I’m trying, okay? I’m trying to be more…” Keith cuts himself off, swallows hard. “I’m trying to be better. I’ll be better for you. I promise.”

Lance’s grip has loosened enough for Keith to wrap his arms around Lance’s back to pull him in, their bodies pressed together so tightly that it’s nearly painful. He can feel Lance trembling and cups the back of his head, hugging him even closer. It’s getting harder to breathe but Keith takes it as his punishment, can only imagine the terror that crushed Lance’s lungs when he saw the stupid daredevil move Keith and Red did in today’s battle against the Galra. It’s his turn to hardly breathe.

“I’m okay.” Keith says softly. He feels Lance nod against him, jerky and fast, tears smearing along Keith’s jaw. Closing his eyes, Keith lets himself relax into the bed and focuses on the feeling of Lance’s breaths breaking warm against his neck.

Then there’s a fumble against Keith’s cheek, turning his face to the side, and he opens his eyes in time to see two pools of blue before he tastes warmth and salt on his tongue. The kiss is hard, bruising, like Lance is punishing him for being stupid, so _fucking_ stupid, and Keith lets him. He pushes into it, encouraging the angry nip of teeth at his bottom lip, and just like that, they turn into a tornado. Spinning into each other, fingers grabbing hard enough to pinch skin, for them to let out hisses before crashing back into each other and reaching for more.

It’s a back and forth, push and pull, opposites attracting like always with them, and there’s too much ache in Keith’s heart for him to tell himself that he’s not falling head over heels for Lance. With the way he teases Keith mercilessly but is still soft in the moments Keith needs most, and how he pushes Keith farther, to be better, even now with their tangled tongues and scrabbling hands, he’s trying to keep up and match Lance, bite for bite. It’s a duel of strengths that he never saw coming, and every day, he learns something new about Lance.

Like today, and how, apparently, Keith isn’t alone in this feeling crashing over him and sucking him away like he’s caught in an invisible current. They’re both going under, getting swept away in this thing that they found in the dark spaces between the stars.

With every kiss, Lance is showing Keith that he wants him here. That he needs him, that he’s just as important to Lance as Keith believes he isn’t. With every kiss, Lance is pushing that doubt away and filling Keith up with light and love that is making all of his nerves sing. He’s on fire, burning from the inside out, but he’s never felt so at peace.

Finally, the storm lets up, one of them pulling away so that they can breathe. Keith just knows that he’s panting hard, his breaths mixing with Lance’s, their mouths still so close to touching, but not. They both just stare at one another, eyes dancing back and forth between the other’s, and it’s so chillingly intimate that Keith has to break the tension. He leans forward, pressing the softest kiss he can against Lance’s mouth. He feels the heat of Lance’s lips, can feel him start to push forward again, but Keith pulls away before it can become anything more.

“I’m sorry,” Keith says again, barely above a whisper, trying to convey just how much he means it through his gaze.

Lance’s face twists, his breathing shaky, and then he leans forward too until their foreheads bump together. They both close their eyes and breathe out together like a sigh of relief.

“I just can’t lose you,” Lance murmurs, turning just slightly so his nose bumps Keith’s.

Softly, Keith smiles. “You won’t.”


End file.
